In his testimony Monday at the bar, the victim had said to expect this trial that "perhaps he recognizes, as at the beginning".
His wish was not granted.
During his questioning on Tuesday before the Assize Court of Essonne, Okito, tried for rape, again denied the facts.
On September 18, 2018, he had made an appointment with his victim, met on an escort girl site, in Villiers-le-Bâcle, a small village of 1,300 inhabitants where he resided. But when arriving at the meeting point, at the entrance of a housing estate facing a field, the young woman not feeling at ease, had asked to leave. The man, now 25, allegedly dragged her into a field to rape her.
Apprehended in incredible conditions by the victim's boyfriend and his father on November 7, 2018, he was taken to the Juvisy police station, where he confessed.
Confessions reiterated a few days later before an examining magistrate.
But a few months later, he had retracted serving a new version implicating the victim, his family and the police officer who questioned him.
This Tuesday, he again denied the facts of rape.
He evokes threats and harassment
According to him, there was no question of a tariffed relationship that evening. The young woman, who came from Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis), would have found him and told him "that she had not come to talk" and would have given him a fellatio immediately. Then, "not being interested", the accused told him that he did not want to go further by insulting him. “I never forced her to come. At that moment, I was already seeing another person, he says. I insulted her, that she looked like nothing, that it was a wand, you're stupid… ”Vexed, the young woman would then have threatened him according to her version of the facts.
"Do you think she had a reason to come this far to have free sex with someone she doesn't know?" “, Asks the lawyer for the civil party. "We spoke on Snap (Snapchat, Editor's note) for two days," replied the accused. He then said he was harassed by the victim and mentioned a link between the police officer who questioned him and the victim's family. Link which has not been demonstrated after investigation.
At the opening of the trial, the defense also requested that it be postponed, on the grounds that a fellow detainee had tried to blackmail him by saying that he had been contacted by the victim's family and that against 'money, the complaint would be withdrawn. Okito first spoke of 2,500 and then 10,000 euros. This request was rejected by the Assize Court. This Tuesday, the civil party's counsel spoke of “perilous and desperate defense maneuvers to create a smokescreen. The verdict is expected this Wednesday evening.